Eco-friendly USA Homemade toothpaste

ECO-FRIENDLY USA HOMEMADE TOOTHPASTE

***I have to say: these statements have not been evaluated by the ADA, FDA or any other government organization. If you or your child ends up having cavities, I cannot be held responsible. Use at your own risk 🙂

AS of 4/1/17 the confectioner’s grain xylitol I had been using is completely N/A with no ETA when/if it will be available again. So I’m back to using their corn (instead of birch) based xylitol as it’s the finest grain they have available. If you have a corn allergy you’d want to avoid it.

UPDATED 2/1/17: NOW THERE ARE 2 FORMULA OPTIONS, PLEASE READ WHY BELOW BEFORE MAKING YOUR SELECTION:

–a couple of days ago someone asked about my homemade toothpaste recipe & the calcium carbonate it contained, did I know if it was lead-free? In the research I had done to create my initial recipe, my research failed to turn up the likelihood that calcium carbonate contained lead. Indeed, the MAIN REASON for creating my recipe was to provide an alternative to bentonite clay recipes which dominate the natural market, and we know do contain heavy metals, but also 60+ trace minerals. Many feel the benefits of this outweigh the risks. But still, I wanted an alternative that was heavy metal-free. I take my recommendations very seriously, and honestly lost sleep over this issue. I felt very bad that I didn’t write to the company to begin with, so I knew what I was dealing with from day 1. I really believed this substance to be lead-free. But, being from the Earth, I know that we run the risk of heavy metals so should’ve known better! Below is a comparison of the heavy metals contained in the calcium carbonate I use in my homemade blend, vs bentonite clay from Redmond Trading Company and an unknown brand:

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Calcium carbonate, from vendor: Please note that other naturally-occurring metals not included in the list above may also be present in this product. Numbers provided in the attachment are:

Cadmium: 0.2 ppm

Chromium: 2 ppm

Lead: 1 ppm

Mercury: < 0.01 ppm

aluminum is one not included, and as you’ll see if you look at bentonite clay from Redmond, it is very high there!

Unknown brand of bentonite clay Natural Baby Mama had tested (I’m in the process of finding out which brand): Bentonite clay – lead 46ppm +/- 14. Cadmium 14ppm. No other metals (I have a feeling the instrument wasn’t the right one to analyze all metals for this product, not that there weren’t more present, it should be similar to Redmond Clay I believe)…. Under Wellness: http://thenaturalbabymama.com/toxins/testing-my-stuff-for-lead-part-3/

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I created my original blend to meet my criteria for a perfect paste, which does not exist ready made on the market (that I’ve found): minimal, safe, effective ingredients. I wanted it to be glycerin-free and bentonite-free (optional), and to include xylitol as it has great oral health benefits. I also wanted 0 ingredients of concern & safe enough to eat, which we know many of the youngest among us do! I largely went off Wellness Mama’s remineralization recipe here: http://wellnessmama.com/2500/remineralizing-toothpaste/.

Coconut oil base: It’s USDA certified organic and is the base for just about any homemade toothpaste recipe as it has wonderful antibacterial properties— just what you want for fighting cavity causing bacteria in your mouth. Many use just coconut oil to brush, and many use it for oil pulling. The ONLY DOWNSIDE is coconut oil melts at ~76. So it is possible this could liquefy, especially in hot climates. If that’s the case in your house you can either leave it in the fridge & scrape some off at bed time, or dip it into the liquid a couple times (maybe once to do top teeth, and a fresh dip for bottom teeth) And at times it could be pretty solid, in that case just scrape a bit off & put it on your brush, it’ll melt in your mouth pretty easily. I also make homemade deodorant using a coconut oil base & the good news is while my deo is pretty solid in my cool bathroom, this paste has remained the perfect consistency. I whipped it a lot, and it seems to have made a difference!

Baking soda—whitening & cleaning properties. I saw several recipes for just a baking soda/water paste, but as I’m sure you know, it does not have a pleasant taste. Also I’ve read concerns about it being abrasive (when used alone as a paste), so I wanted to include some but not a lot in this recipe. This product can’t be certified organic, I use top quality Bob’s Redmill.

Xylitol******TAKE NOTE: IT CAN BE DEADLY TO DOGS, EVEN IN LOW DOSES. IF YOU HAVE CONCERN THAT THEY MAY POSSIBLY EAT YOUR TOOTHPASTE, DO NOT BRING THIS INTO YOUR HOUSE. This ingredient is very important to this recipe, it has cavity prevention properties. I give my kids 6g/day of xylitol mints (from Epic Dental), and want to make sure they’re getting it while brushing as well.

Calcium carbonate—Added for the calcium which our teeth need.

Organic flavor Extract oil—Strawberry, grape, blueberry, bubblegum, cinnamon, vanilla are the current options, and you can have a combo of your choice as well, or unflavored of course! Ingredients: Organic Cane Alcohol, Organic and Natural Flavors. Yes, it does have the ambiguous “natural flavors”, but that is the least of my concerns at this point as I think this is a really, really good recipe. If anyone knows of a flavor oil concentrate that does not contain “natural flavors”, please let me know.

*****Currently the peppermint & spearmint are flavor oil, not an extract as the above ones are. The difference: it’s in a base of organic sunflower oil instead of the organic alcohol.

How to apply: When you get your jar, let it warm up to room temp & stir it well, you can kind of whip it up in the container. Sometimes during shipping it can warm up to a liquid & cause ingredients to settle. I use a popsicle stick to apply it to the brush. My kids LOVE applying the paste with the stick, it’s the little things, getting them involved, that help make this a winner in our house! A small spoon would work fine. Just a little dab will do. My kids LOVE it & we’ve gone from brushing twice/day to them asking to brush multiple times/day which is great in my book!